San Jose, CA, February 16, 2016
-- Richard Chuang, a
distinguished member of the Cogswell College Board of
Directors, a true Pioneer
of Digital Animation, and the co-inventor of one of the very
first Digital
Animation Pipelines, has just received (on Feb. 13th)
his second
Academy Award®
for his groundbreaking design work of the PDI/DreamWorks
Animation Media Review
System.

Regarding the accomplished
Richard Chuang, John Duhring, Cogswell College’s Vice President, Marketing and
Strategic Alliances,
said, “Richard has always been an artist – one who discovered
computers in high
school back in 1974. His approach is so pragmatic. He just
figures things out
and gets things done. He’s an artist who embraced science and
engineering to
become one of the most prominent inventors within the
entertainment industry.
We are thrilled to have his influence as we prepare students
to operate
successfully in the most dynamic industry ever created.”

RECENT
VIDEO PRESENTATIONS BY RICHARD CHUANG:

** During July
2015, Richard Chuang
shared his insights and opinions about several of the latest
innovations in 3D
graphics applications, programs, and technologies while
visiting students at Cogswell College. Please see
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZB6VAjmSZQ

** During March 2015,
Richard Chuang
spoke at an “Innovators Day” reception at UC Davis’
prestigious College
of Engineering.
Richard spoke on the topic
of “Media and Technology – 35 years of changes. Please
see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9OZro1doGM

ABOUT RICHARD CHUANG’S SECOND
ACADEMY AWARD®:

On January 8, 2016,
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that
10 scientific
and technical achievements represented by 33 individual award
recipients would
be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards
Presentation on
Saturday, February 13, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills.
Unlike other Academy Awards® to
be presented this year, achievements receiving Scientific and
Technical Awards
need not have been developed and introduced during 2015.
Rather, the
achievements must demonstrate a proven record of contributing
significant value
to the process of making motion pictures.

Richard Chuang and Rahul Thakkar each received a 2016 TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (ACADEMY CERTIFICATE) for
their
groundbreaking design of the DreamWorks Animation Media Review
System. In
addition, Andrew
Pilgrim, Stewart
Birnam and Mark
Kirk will
also receive TECHNICAL
ACHIEVEMENT
AWARDS (ACADEMY CERTIFICATES) for the review
workflows and advanced
playback features of that DreamWorks Animation Media Review
System.

ABOUT
RICHARD CHUANG:

Richard Chuang became a
distinguished member of the Cogswell
College Board of Directors in 2008. He was the founder of
Pacific Data Images,
which was later acquired by DreamWorks Animation.

A 1979 graduate of the UC
Davis College of
Engineering, Richard Chuang became the first employee at
Pacific Data Images in
1981. At the time, PDI was an upstart computer animation
company that operated
in a garage. PDI’s early successes included an updated
Pillsbury Doughboy,
which became the first established corporate icon to go CGI.

While at PDI, Chuant
served as a Visual
Effects Supervisor on 16 Hollywood
motion
pictures, as well as a director on commercials. He also won an
Emmy Award for
Graphics Design. Later, as an executive at DreamWorks
Animation, he led the
effort in setting up DWA productions around the world.

Pacific Data was soon
embraced – and later
acquired by - the DreamWorks film studio, leading to
collaborations on the
“Shrek” film series, along with numerous other animated and
live-action films.
Chuang’s technical innovations led him to win, in 1998, a
shared Technical
Achievement Academy Award®, his first of two awards
from the Academy
of Motion Picture Arts
and Sciences.

Chuang left DreamWorks in 2008,
determined to
re-shape the way that animators work with each other. He then
became the
founder and CEO of Cloudpic. The philosophy behind Cloudpic: “We are artists. We are
engineers. We are
creative thinkers and adventurers. We’ve left our past behind
and now we use
our knowledge and experience to cut new paths. If we are not
learning something
new or seeing the world from a new perspective each day, we
have failed.” Please
see: http://www.cloudpic.com/

ABOUT COGSWELL COLLEGE:

Designed as a
“fiercely collaborative, living laboratory,” Cogswell
College is located in
the heart of the
legendary Silicon Valley in San Jose, California.
The school is a WASC
accredited, four-year institution of higher education with a
specialized
curriculum that fuses digital arts, audio technology, game
design, engineering
and entrepreneurship.

In 2015, Cogswell was cited by Animation
Career Review as
“One of the Top 50 Private
Game Design Schools
and Colleges in the U.S.” Also in
2015, Cogswell was included in Animation Magazine’s
prestigious list of “Top
Schools to Hire From.”

Numerous
alumni of Cogswell College have secured prominent
positions within the
entertainment, videogame, technology, computer, animation, and
motion graphics
industries throughout California
and beyond. Several of these alumni have established careers
with such high
profile companies as Activision, DreamWorks Animation, Disney,
Electronic Arts,
Pixar, and Microsoft Game Studio. Many other alumni have
launched their own
creative ventures.

Recent Cogswell
alumni were members of the Academy Award-winning production
teams that worked
on the blockbuster films “Frozen” and “Life of Pi.” Some of
the other
well-known consumer projects to which Cogswell alumni have
contributed include
the feature films “Big Hero 6” and “The Avengers,” and the
popular videogames
“Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare,” “Halo 4” and “Battlefield
Hardline.”

Cogswell College is located at 191 Baypointe Parkway, San Jose, California,
95134.
For more information, please
call 1-800-264-7955 or visit http://www.cogswell.edu.

Friday, February 12, 2016

New Smurfs In The Village!

Sony Pictures Animation Announces Additional Cast For
SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE

Culver City, CA, February 12, 2016 - Sony Pictures Animation today announced the addition of three new cast for the lineup of talent in the next Smurf adventure Smurfs: The Lost Village, hitting theaters March 31, 2017.

Joining the already announced Demi Lovato as Smurfette, Rainn Wilson as Gargamel and Mandy Patinkin as Papa Smurf will be: triple Emmy nominee Jack McBrayer (30 Rock, Wreck-It Ralph) as the sweet, awkward and honest-to-a-fault Clumsy, who's forever trying his best and missing the mark; Danny Pudi (Community) as book smart and geek proud Brainy, who's long on knowledge, but short on inter-Smurf-onal skills; and Joe Manganiello (True Blood, Magic Mike) as the strong and super-positive Hefty, a loyal dynamo struggling with his hero complex.

The newest entry in the Columbia Pictures movie franchise that has grossed more than $900 million globally, Smurfs: The Lost Village is set for a worldwide release on March 31, 2017. The fully-animated return to the tone and style of the beloved comic book creations of Peyo is directed by Kelly Asbury (Shrek 2, Gnomeo & Juliet), produced by Jordan Kerner (Charlotte's Web, The Smurfs), co-produced by Mary Ellen Bauder (Hotel Transylvania), and executive produced by Raja Gosnell and Ben Waisbren.

It seems to Smurfette that everyone else in the Village has a purpose - Papa Smurf (leading), Baker Smurf (baking), even Grouchy Smurf (grouching) - except for her. So what's the only girl in the village to do? Go in search of hers, of course! When she accidentally crosses paths with a mysterious creature that takes off into the Enchanted Forest, she follows, and sets off into the uncharted and strictly forbidden woods. Joined by her brothers Brainy, Hefty and Clumsy - and with the evil wizard Gargamel shadowing their every step - Team Smurf undertakes a wild journey full of action, danger and discovery, setting them on a course that leads to the biggest mystery in Smurf history!

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ANIMATION

Sony Pictures Animation produces a variety of animated and family entertainment for audiences around the world. The studio is following its worldwide comedy hits-the record-breaking monster comedies Hotel Transylvania and Hotel Transylvania 2, the hybrid live action/animated blockbusters The Smurfs and The Smurfs 2, and the mouth-watering Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies-with the fully animated reboot Smurfs: The Lost Village in March 2017; the inspirational story The Lamb in December 2017;and an animated Spider-Man feature from the minds of directors Chris Miller and Phil Lord in Summer 2018. The studio, in conjunction with Aardman Animations, has produced two critically acclaimed feature films: the CG-animated family comedy Arthur Christmas; and the Academy Award®-nominated stop-frame animated high-seas adventure, The Pirates! Band of Misfits. In 2007, Surf's Up also received an Academy Award® nomination for Best Animated Feature Film. The division—whose first feature film Open Season led to a very successful movie franchise, including the upcoming Open Season: Scared Silly in Spring 2016—turned 10 in 2012. Sony Pictures Animation is a division of the Sony Pictures Motion Pictures Group.

ABOUT SONY PICTURES ENTERTAINMENT:

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production, acquisition and distribution; television production, acquisition and distribution; television networks; digital content creation and distribution; operation of studio facilities; and development of new entertainment products, services and technologies. For additional information, go to http://www.sonypictures.com.

ABOUT THE SMURFS:

The story of the Smurfs - a property created by Peyo - started in 1958 with the creation of comic books which were later brought to both the big and small screen. Over the years, the little blue characters haven't just limited themselves to the page and the screen. They have inspired records and CDs that have sold millions of copies, entire collections of figurines and toys, and many more products. In all, more than 3,000 derived products have been produced and leading brands and companies have spread their messages worldwide with the help of the Smurfs. A multitude of new projects appear regularly, thus making the success of the Smurfs planetary!

ABOUT LAFIG BELIUM S.A.:

Lafig Belgium is the owner of the rights to produce audio-visual works based on the Smurf universe and of the Smurf worldwide licensing rights (together with IMPS). Lafig Belgium is controlled by the heirs of Pierre Culliford, better known under his pseudonym Peyo, the author/creator of the Smurfs. For 50 years, the Culliford family has controlled the Smurf characters and all licenses worldwide.